PRIDE OF MEXICO

Who says America's melting pot is cooling off? Celebrations from other cultures are still finding their way into the American mainstream.

Just as St. Patrick's Day has become a common celebration, particularly in large cities like Chicago, Cinco de Mayo (5th of May) is slowly gaining that kind of acceptance.

Only a few years ago, few non-Mexicans even knew the meaning of the date (it commemorates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, in which Mexican forces defeated an invading army sponsored by the French government). Fewer bothered to celebrate it.

Mexican-American awareness and pride have swollen here in recent times. One result is an increased willingness to commemorate heroic events such as Mexico's greatest military victory.

But Cinco de Mayo has become an event of more than military or historical importance. It is a rallying point of cultural awareness. Other Latino groups use the day as a pan-Hispanic holiday.

Those who wish to be Mexican on Cinco de Mayo and surrounding days have plenty of opportunity in Chicago. Here are a few ways to celebrate the heritage and culture of America's southern neighbor.

I love a parade:

Cinco de Mayo has joined the roster of other ethnic parades, many of which take place in the hearts of their communities. This year's parade is no exception. It proceeds westward along Cermak Road from Damen to Kedzie Avenues, starting at noon Sunday. If past parades are an indication, this year's edition will greet watchers with mariachis, horseback riders, floats and no shortage of Mexican flags.

A weekend in the park: Chicago's biggest Cinco de Mayo festival is also a very public one -- a weekend of celebrations in the West Side's Douglas Park. The Cermak Road Chamber of Commerce and Industry sponsors this celebration. It runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday, 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.

Most of the activities common to Chicago festivals are here, including carnival rides and games. Food booths assure that visitors need not go hungry. Likewise, merchandise booths will try to see to it that no one goes home without a T-shirt. If you want something for free, promotional booths from companies and city agencies can provide that, too. Radio station WTAQ-AM (1300) provides live entertainment with bands from Mexico and Chicagoland.

What would any event honoring soccer-mad Mexico be without a game or two? The Cinco de Mayo festival has two soccer tournaments, for adult and child players. Both tourneys feature teams from Chicago-area soccer leagues, and the adult tournament also includes the team Torneo de los Barrios from Mexico.

On a more serious note, the festival also includes a 10 a.m. memorial service for those who died at the Battle of Puebla and made Cinco de Mayo a cause of celebration in the first place.

Folklore fest: Mexico's heritage extends far beyond wars and battles. A rich folkloric tradition expresses the joys, sorrows and concerns of millions of mostly anonymous people. These emotions come to the fore during a concert by Los Folkloristas at 7 p.m. Saturday on the Skyline Stage at Navy Pier (312-738-1503).

The display of instruments alone is worth the show. Standard folk instruments are there -- various flavors of guitars, harps, violins and drums. Los Folkloristas also play a few instruments not seen every day: a Yaqui water drum (a large gourd, hollowed and floating in a tub of water, struck with a rubber-wrapped stick) or a charango, a tiny guitar fashioned from an armadillo shell.

Los Folkloristas, which recorded movie soundtracks for "My Family" and "El Norte," is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The group performs traditional music from Mexico and the rest of Latin America. "It is our idea to rescue this music from oblivion," says member Rosalinda Reynosa. "Very often, there is a rhythm or a song or an instrument that just one last little old man knows how to play, and when he's gone this song is gone for good."

The Los Folkloristas concert is only one event from Del Corazon, an annual arts festival sponsored by the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum. The festival closes with "Santos & Santos," a play by Chicago's Teatro Vista. "Santos & Santos," which deals with the lives of three Mexican-American brothers, opens May 10 at the museum, 1852 W. 19th St. (312-738-1503).

Song and Dance: Color, movement, music, action, spectacle. These words describe the variety that is Mexican folkloric dance. The Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago takes its talents to the suburbs on Sunday for a performance at Mt. Prospect's El Sombrero restaurant.

The familiar hat dance, from the state of Jalisco, is often a part of the folkloric company's programs. But numbers also include pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, European intervention and Caribbean influences. A typical program may include an Aztec suite, pescadero (fisherman) from the central Mexican state of Michoacan, and norteno polkas from the American border region.

"We perpetuate traditional dance, music, song and dress of Mexico," says executive director Henry Roa. "There are over 300 dance styles from Mexico, each with hundreds of dances and costumes. We have about 80 adult and young dancers. Most of our dancers are from the United States, although some were born in Mexico. We have some second- and third-generation dancers in our troupe."

The folkloric dancers, from 3 to 5 p.m., are only one event of what El Sombrero owner Rick Russo calls "the official party of Cinco de Mayo." Other activities include a tortilla toss, a taco eating contest, a 15-pig roast, and any number of pinatas waiting to meet their doom. The fiesta benefits Omni Youth Services, a northwest suburban social services agency. It takes place, rain or shine, in a tent by the restaurant, 1100 S. Elmhurst Rd. (847-364-0030).

El beisbol: Mexican sportscasters have often referred to baseball as "El rey de los deportes" ("King of sports"). Likewise, the White Sox over the years have paid homage to the nearby Pilsen and Little Village Mexican-American communities. Mexican foods such as nachos have been staples at Comiskey Park since the days of late owner Bill Veeck. Perhaps more important, Veeck imported players such as future all-star second baseman Jorge Orta and Mexican League veterans Jerry Hairston and former Sox legend Minnie Minoso.

No Mexican-born players grace the Sox lineup right now. But the team celebrates Cinco de Mayo nonetheless, returning home Tuesday for a game against the Baltimore Orioles. A mariachi band will entertain incoming fans at Gate 5. A yet-unnamed leader of Chicago's Latino community will throw out the first ball. And who knows? Perhaps Dave Martinez, Norberto Martin, Ozzie Guillen, Jose Munoz or Danny Tartabull will hit one out of the park, bringing about some belated Cinco de Mayo fireworks.

Different views: For Chicagoans today, a view of Mexico may be no farther away than a Spanish-language television station. Those who have grown up since the advent of the boob tube may find it hard to contemplate that images of Mexico were not always readily available. Yet for travelers 100 or 200 or 300 or 400 years ago, Mexico was indeed tierra incognita. New images from this unknown land were as prized then as closeups of Neptune are to astronomers today.

Chicago's Newberry Library holds several of these images. They, together with others on loan from a private Mexico City collector, form "Mexico Ilustrado," an exhibit running Sunday through July 17 at the library. It contains representations from the 16th through 19th Centuries.

"Explorers would always take artists along to represent the countries they were visiting," notes Ruth Hamilton, co-curator of the exhibit. "The maps were often quite artistic. We have a Cortez map made by the conquistador or one of his associates. We also include a native map from about 1560 of the holy Aztec city of Tenochitlan."

"Mexico Ilustrado" pictures a wide range of media: watercolors, wood cuts, lithographs, copper engravings. It also deals with such topics as political cartoons, official documents and popular games. Many of the 150 items are portraits by Americans who wandered south of the border more than a century ago. "Many mining engineers became artists for archeological expeditions," Hamilton says.

Exhibit visitors have a chance to be exhibitors. One wall will be left open for guests to display their photographs of Mexico.

Newberry's celebration begins with a $250 black tie benefit dinner on Saturday. Guests may enjoy dinner, cocktails and dancing to "911 Mambo" (a 17-piece Latin band) and "Sones de Mexico Ensemble" (a Mexican fandango band). A free celebration takes place on Sunday at the library, 60 W. Walton (312-943-9090), from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Entertainment includes children's dance groups from the Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago and the Ballet Folklorico Cinco de Mayo. Outside the library, children will have the chance to create "Chicago Illustrated" by drawing their own impressions of Chicago.

For your hacienda: Do you want to keep the Cinco de Mayo spirit all year around? Why not bring it home in the form of furniture?

The Old Hacienda, a month-old store at 6333 N. Pulaski Rd. (312-267-5305), offers ironwork and furniture that whisks you into the spirit of 1860s Puebla. One can munch on jicamas or guacamole on wooden table sets while admiring tilework on the walls or placing the family valuables in wooden chests. Other items are considerably more 1990s than 1860s: an abstract metallic version of "The Last Supper," metallic vaqueros fashioned from horseshoes, mountain lake scenes painted on silver.

Read all about it: You can learn more about the 1860s era at Tres Americas Books Inc., a Spanish-language bookstore at 4336 N. Pulaski Rd. (312-481-9090). Tres Americas has history books, biographies, and textbooks that describe the war against France. It also has Fernando del Paso's historical novel "Noticias del Imperio." This book, written from the point of view of Empress Carlotta, describes the 1862 Battle of Puebla. It also mentions the second Battle of Puebla in 1863, a heroic but unsuccessful defense by the Mexicans. For youngsters, there is "La Banderay el Escudo de Mexico," a patriotic book that explains the history of Mexico's flag and shield, while explaining in verse the pride aroused by the 1862 victory.

Film for thought: Are you tired out from festivities yet still wanting more of Mexican culture? Facets Multimedia Center may hold the answer. The independent theater, known for alternative films, also has a film rental center.

Ever since the 1940s, when director Luis Bunuel detailed Mexico City street urchin life in "Los Olividados" ("The Forgotten"), Mexico has earned a reputation for high-quality filmmaking. Mexican films of recent years show that diversity: "El Mariachi," a low-budget thriller about a musician mistaken for an assassin; "Cabeza de Vaca," describing the life of the explorer of the American Southwest; "Frida," a biography of talented and tortured artist Frida Kahlo, and "Los Hermanos de Hierro," the story of how a vengeful mother determines her sons' fates. Bunuel is available, of course, in everything from "The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz" to a humorously twisted version of the English classic "Wuthering Heights." For those seeking lighter fare, Facets, at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. (312-281-9075), also has a video of Mexican TV commercials.